Poisonous plant

Voroniy eye - a small herbaceous plant, notable primarily for its berries blue-black, like blueberries or blueberries. This plant has been known since antiquity and is now sufficiently well studied - the crow of the eye is an object for genetic research.

In the old days it was believed that the berries of the crow's eye, sewn into clothing, can save a person from evil spells. In times of epidemics, they were worn on the body to protect themselves from the pestilence. At the same time, despite his wide popularity, he was used extremely reluctantly and with great caution.

What does this plant look like, what benefit does it bring and how dangerous a crow's eye is for a man? To begin with, let us consider its botanical characteristics.

Description of the plant

Due to its wide range, this plant has a lot of folk names: bear berries, crow, cross grass, crow's berries, nail, puller, wolf eyes, rod-grass, cuckoo's tears, blanched forest, paris grass. In total, there are more than twenty types of crow's eye. The most widely distributed crow's eye is the four-leaved (Latin name Pāris quadrifōlia). All species are small herbaceous perennials. In winter, the green part of the crow's eye dies, there remains a rhizome, from which a new escape develops next year.

What does the crow eye look like? The stem is erect, ribbed, without pubescence, the height of the stem is from 10 to 40 cm. Bottom on the stalk there are criss-cross leaves - wide, ovate, with pointed tip. There are usually four of them, but sometimes there is a crow of the eye with 5 or 6 leaves. If you grind the leaves between your fingers, you can catch an unpleasant smell of plant juice. The flower of the crow's eye is plain and unremarkable. It is single, located at the top of the ribbed stem and has four outer green (sepals) and four internal yellow-green petals. In appearance, the flower resembles a small four-pointed asterisk. Blossoms crow's eye in May-July, the flowering lasts a long time. Fruit is a globular berry about one centimeter in diameter, ripens in August. The berry is black and shiny, with a bluish coating, there are many seeds inside it, located in four nests.

blueberry

It is easy for ignorant people or children to confuse the fruits of a crow's eye with blueberries or blueberries. The taste of berries is unpleasant, in some people even the smell of a crow's eye can cause nausea or headache. For the same reason, they are not eaten by animals, so poisoning in cattle is extremely rare. An interesting feature - birds eat berries in large quantities without any harm to themselves.

The root system of the plant is a long creeping rhizome. In spring, from lateral buds, it gives new above-ground shoots.

The plant is spread almost throughout the European part of the continent, in Western Siberia, the Caucasus, the Crimea, the Mediterranean. And in the Far East - in Kamchatka and Sakhalin, in the Maritime Territory, in the Amur Region - other species of this grass (the Manchurian and six-leaved eye crow) are found. The biotopes where the crow's eye grows are shaded wet places - ravines, bushes, raw rocky slopes. Vorony eye loves fertile soil, so it occurs in deciduous and mixed forests, less often in coniferous forests or in the forest-steppe.

Usually it is located singly, but sometimes you can see about a dozen growing plants nearby.

Where the Eye Crow is used

As noted above, this grass is well studied. Voroniy eye four-leaf contains flavonoids, organic acids (lemon, apple), vitamin C, pectin substances, coumarin, glycoside, paridine. The plant is considered to be poisonous - in the rhizomes, leaves and fruits it contains a poisonous saponin paristifin. The rhizomes also contain saponins of the steroid structure and alkaloids.

broth from a crow's eye

Raw materials for medical purposes are harvested during the flowering period. Use the whole plant as a whole, applying the green parts to make the tincture for alcohol. The berries are harvested after ripening, used in fresh or dried form for the preparation of infusions and broths.

Because of the toxicity of the crows eye, its use in official medicine is prohibited. Traditional medicine uses the crow of the eye, too, very carefully. Berries and leaves have vomiting and laxative effect. In the old days we believed that the broths of the crow's eye relieve spasms, which are caused by nervous disorders, help with fever and dropsy. Alcohol tinctures from berries are used to treat inflammation of the larynx, migraine, increased drowsiness, various heart diseases with increased heart rate. In the people it was believed that with the help of berries of the crow's eye one can get rid of a hernia. Juice from fresh berries heals chirja, heals skin ulcers and is used when bitten by rabid dogs. In Tibetan medicine, preparations from the crow's eye are used for the early splicing of bones in fractures.

Recipes of decoctions and infusions and to this day can be found in various herbalists, but they all go with the reservation - apply only under the supervision of a doctor.

More widely used drugs from the crow's eye in homeopathy. From fresh overground parts, the homeopathic remedy Paris quadrifolia is prepared, which is used for neuralgic headaches, facial pains, with frequent inflammation of the larynx. The drug is effective in conjunctivitis, accompanied by twitching of the eyelids.

Poisoning with a raven's eye

poisoning

Voroniy eye is a poisonous plant, all of its parts are dangerous to humans. The juice of the plant causes a strong irritation of the mucous membranes. Berries affect mainly the cardiovascular system, the rhizome causes vomiting, and the leaves affect the nervous system. In experiments carried out on dogs, with intra-arterial administration, infusion of berries caused a disturbance of the heart rhythm - first slowing, then acceleration and arrhythmia. This action is similar to the glycosides of the lily of the valley, whose relative is the crow of the eye.

The plant is considered weakly poisonous - it does not know the deadly cases of poisoning. Often children suffer from the consequences of eating berries, as beautiful fruits are attractive and look appetizing. Fortunately, they taste bad, and one or two berries can be eaten without any serious consequences. Upon ingestion of 7-10 berries, poisoning with a crow's eye begins.

Also, the symptoms of poisoning can occur when an overdose of drugs from the crows eye during treatment. It should be noted that for them there is a wide range of contraindications - children's age, pregnancy and lactation, violations of the liver and kidneys.

Symptoms of poisoning

What are the signs of poisoning with a raven's eye? Symptoms will be as follows:

nausea;

vomiting;

burning in the mouth, pharynx, stomach;

loose stools;

abdominal pain, colic;

headaches and dizziness.

In severe cases, note the dilated pupils, dry mouth and nasal cavity, fear of light. In the future speech is broken, swallowing is difficult. Cramps and disruption of the heart are possible until it stops.

First Aid

The first help in poisoning the crow's eyes with berries is to release the stomach from the poison and remove its remains from the intestine.

Rinse the stomach with a suspension of activated carbon, 2% solution of soda or tannin from the calculation of 5 g per 1 liter of water. In the absence of those, give a few glasses of water (for children, not less than half a glass is taken for each year of life).

To prevent the absorption of poison from the stomach and intestines, as well as to alleviate the pain syndrome, apply enveloping agents - starch broth, egg white, vegetable oil, milk.

Also for pain relief, you can drink "Dicaine" or "Anestezin".

When vomiting lighten the condition of small pieces of ice - they need to be kept in your mouth or gradually swallowed.

When diarrhea is necessary to make up for the loss of fluid - the victim is allowed to drink water, special solutions: "Regidron", "Hydrovit."

Attention!Taking a laxative when poisoned by a crow's eye is contraindicated.

The victim can give a strong tea, which contains substances that precipitate poison (tannins). If after consuming the berries a lot of time has passed and the toxins have entered the intestine, they make a cleansing enema.

Treatment of poisoning

After first aid is given, when poisoning the crow with the eye, it is necessary to consult a doctor. Perhaps, the need for the introduction of cardiac drugs. Depending on the indications, a forced diuresis is performed. To increase liver function, detoxifying toxins, and also to maintain the heart muscle, intravenous glucose is indicated.

So, the crow is an widely spread plant, all parts of which are poisonous when ingested. It can be poisoned by taking medications prepared from a plant, or by eating ignorant berries of a crow's eye, which in appearance look like blueberries or blueberries. The first signs of poisoning are nausea, stomach pain and diarrhea, vomiting and impaired cardiac activity are possible. First-aid measures for poisoning with a crow's eye are reduced to removing poison from the body - washing the stomach, giving adsorbents and enveloping substances. Seeking qualified medical help is necessary - you may need intravenous infusions of antitoxic and cardiac drugs.